Costume Band Revelry - Five (5) Do's and Don'ts

Jumping in a costume band is fun. Jumping in a costume band is great. But every year people make the same mistakes over and over again. Sunflower is here to help with some tips to get you ready for Kadooment Day.

# 1
Do - Select a costume which fits your size and budget.
Don't - Buy a costume 2 sizes too small and so expensive that you can't afford to pay the rent.
Why - No one wants to see that!!! And you will be broke come August 2nd.



# 2
Do - Put on your costume and have a grand ole time.
Don't - Have a grand ole time wukking up on an officer of the law (policeman/woman).
Why - That just ain't right!!!

# 3
Do - Drink plenty of fluids before Kadooment Day so that you are well hydrated.
Don't - Drink plenty of alcohol on Kadooment Day, get drunk and lose control of your inhibitions and common sense.
Why - What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. But what happens on Spring Garden ends up on YouTube, BajanTube and Facebook.

# 4

Do - Exercise consistently during the year so that by August 1st you are ready to jump all day in a costume band.
Don't - Wait until July 15th to start walking around the Garrison Savannah in hopes that by August 1st you are fit enough to jump all day in the broiling sun and/or driving rain, in a costume band.
Why - It ain't gonna work!!! You may have to settle for a larger sized costume. (See tip #1) And you may become so bruck up, that your friends may have to carry you part of the way.

# 5

Do - Use the supplied public facilities to relieve yourself while travelling along the parade route.
Don't - Do anything different!!!
Why - Cameras and cell phones are deceptively tiny but have very powerful video recording capabilities. (See tip #3) Need I say more?

Follow these tips and you will be a-okay.

Calypso Time Travel

So you are sitting at home, listening to all the new tunes and you are asking yourself these questions:

• Who won party monarch last year?
• Who won road march?, and
• Who went to the Pic-o-de-crop finals?
  

With all the partying, frolicking, jumping, dancing, yamming and overall merry making that you did last year, you can't remember didley. What happened last year might as well have happened year before, or year before that, or year before that...it is all a blur.

Have no fear, Sunflower is here to help. That's right - Sunflower to the rescue, again. But I'm only going back the last three (3) years 'cause Sunflower has to research these things and that takes time. And today, I'm only going to go back to party monarch.

So here goes....Party Monarch Results

• 2008 - Khiomal singing Unleash De Beast
• 2007 - Lil Rick singing Can't Wait
• 2006 - Barry Chandler singing Flames
  

There you have it. Are the memories flooding back? Well here is a bonus - Lil Rick's Can't Wait music video. Enjoy!!! You can thank me later.

Annoying Phrase of the Day

Phrase: I joined the competition to gain self confidence in myself.
Often used by: Contestants in any type of competition (sport, artistic, academic, etc)
Why is this annoying: Really? Reallllly.......who else are you going to have self confidence in?

Enough said.

The photo in this post is from the PicApp website.

Flashback Friday

My primary school's song included the phrase "alma mater". Which, to a five (5) or six (6) year old means absolutely nothing. Even though the teachers explained what it meant, the phrase only has significance when one is a hard backed adult. (Which is a good thing.)

As it seems, children have ways of making sense where there appears to be none. So the phrase "alma mater" was replaced by any other word which rhymed with it, and in some cases did not rhyme at all. For example, "alma mater" became:

• alligator
• see you later, and a personal favourite of mine,
• mashed potater (potato)

I have no idea how the teachers managed to overlooked (or not hear) this destruction of the school song. The little kids in my year came and found this practice in existence. So, in a sense; it was a school tradition.

Major shout out to Farmer's Choice and the Bajan Tra-di-TION.

(Due to technical difficulties, Flashback Friday was posted on Saturday.)

Movies, Movies, Movies

What is showing at the movie theatres?

So Barbados only has 3 places to watch movies (outside of your home, your friend's home, your frenemy's home...you get the picture).

You can go to:

• The Globe Drive-in
• The Globe Cinema
• The Olympus Theatre

So what's showing at The Globe?

• Terminator Salvation - want to see it
• Street Fighter - don't know what that is

So what's showing at The Olympus?

• Terminator Salvation
• 17 Again - I don't intend to watch this
• Street Fighter
  
• Angels and Demons - maybe
• Wolverine - loved it
  
• Star Trek - loved it
• State of play
• And some other stuff

If you want to see what is on at The Olympus, go to http://www.olympustheatres.com/.

Sunflower (me) is going to rate movies from one (1) to five (5) petals. With 1 petal being the lowest score and 5 petals being the highest.

• Wolverine gets 4 petals
• Star Trek gets 4 petals too (Review here)

It is a tie. Yes folks - a tie.

Movie reviews can be found at The Bimshire Post - Reviews Site.

It is Crop Over Time Again

Yes folks it is Crop Over time again in Bim (Barbados).

This means a few things:
• Turn your radio up. Way up.
• Drag your dancing shoes from under the bed.
• Pick a costume, that is, if you are jumping in a costume band.
• Get your gear ready for all the crop over events you will be going to.
• Decide which calypso tent you want to visit. Hey, visit them all...the artists need our support.
• Call your friends and plan a crop over party (or not).

Want to learn more about Crop Over, visit www.barbados.org/cropover